The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lasser Bradley Jr. Mm-hmm. Dozen tumblers seem My great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my govending, the triumphs of this race. This is La Cher Bradley Jr., inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. Yeah.
Watch thou my wayward feet, guide me with comes so sweet. You are in heart help me to bear in heart, oh God. Help me to be teached me to do thy will most lovingly friend and God bless me with thee abide your in heart help me to bear in heart oh God help me to be That I thy holy face one day may see Keep me from secret sin, reign thou my soul within you to be. I want to thank each of you who have written us recently and helped us support this program. And I know that there are others of you that want the broadcast to continue, but you just have delayed sending the support that would.
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There's some excellent articles up. I encourage you to read them and we look forward to hearing from you. Continuing our series in the book of Joshua, we now bring you the second part of the message entitled Watch and Pray. And then Pride can be a problem. You can deceive yourself.
By being proud of your spiritual accomplishments.
Now, the children of Israel had obeyed God at Gilgal. What?
Soon thereafter, they are being deceived by their enemy. It may well have been that because they had had this time of worship. that they now felt secure. It felt everything was on track. We don't have to be concerned.
We don't have to be on the lookout as to what the enemy might do next. And so that same fault That same failure could be the case in your own experience. That you've made some progress. You've become more diligent in the reading of scripture. You're more zealous about your prayer life.
And so you feel pretty good. I feel like I'm on a better course today. I'm on a better track. But Proverbs chapter 16 of the 18th verse says, Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It may be that you've made progress.
But if you rely on that You're depending on your own accomplishment and your own strength. You lay yourself open to be deceived and in effect are deceiving yourself. 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12 says, Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
So you can't assume That because You have learned something in the past. that you're now secure. You may say, Oh yes, back here.
So many months or years ago. I was deceived. I was saved by a false teacher. I was deceived by something that I read that led me down the wrong path. I deceived myself.
Because I felt like I had grown stronger and I was capable to stand.
So now I feel secure. But if you're depending on those past experiences and you're not daily continuing to rely upon the Lord and turn to Him for the guidance you need, you're. deceiving yourself.
Now, the second thing we look at in this chapter is a quick decision. After the Gibeonites had made that appeal, which we just read. It says in verse 15. And Joshua made peace with them to let them live. And the princes of the congregation swear unto them.
The fact is, if we're serving God, we can make no compromise. We don't know what all of the thoughts may have been with Joshua and these men. They were obviously deceived. They assumed these people are not going to be a problem. They're from a distant country.
They may have felt some sympathy for them, seeing how they appeared to be so much in a deplorable state after this reportedly long trip. But for whatever reason, they gave in. They compromised. And you know, that's one of Satan's devices. to get you to compromise.
Sorry, I uh I don't want to be too hard. I don't I don't I don't want to be narrow-minded. I want to have a good open mind about things. And so you find a place that says Well This may not be 100% right, but it's not 100% wrong. And I just may take this path because it's the easiest one.
If we're following Jesus Christ, there's no place for compromise. Not to compromise with our flesh, not to compromise with sin, not to compromise with Satan, not to compromise with error and evil. No compromise.
So is she the There's failure. on the part of Joshua. Joshua is a great man. A man of faith. mightily used of God.
But here we come to grips with the fact that some of the best men that God has ever used. have their failures recorded in Scripture. The Apostle Peter. A man who is a faithful, loyal follower of Jesus Christ. Denied it.
And yet He was restored. and preached a powerful discourse. on the day of Pentecost. There are many, many examples of that in Scripture. But Why was it?
That Joshua failed. He failed. to seek the Lord. Verse 14. And the men took of their victuals, and ask not counsel of the Lord.
Now, when it says that the man, these princes that were with Joshua, one heading up each of the tribes of Israel. When it says they took their vitals, I I doubt that means that they took this moldy bread and ate it. I think it simply means they took it to inspect it. They they looked at it to see if indeed what the men were claiming was the truth. But The sad thing is They asked not counsel.
of the Lord.
Now there was a way where they could have gotten a specific answer. And that was to go to the great high priest. And he would use His method of discerning the will of God. But it didn't do that. It didn't stop to pray.
He didn't stop to ask God. What should I do about this? Are these men legitimate? Have they told me the truth? He did not ask counsel of the Lord.
So Joshua and the other princes with him depended on their own judgment. I guess after they looked at the moldy bread, they say, Well, yeah, that's what it is. I guess they're telling the truth. They've come from a long journey. They relied on their own wisdom.
No doubt. At least for that moment, the testimony of the givenites sounded reasonable. Their appearance seemed to validate their story.
So they depended on what they saw. They depended on what they heard. They did not depend on God. Have you ever been guilty of that? That you depended on what you could see with the human eye.
You depended on what somebody told you and what you heard. You depended on your own wisdom. You see, I think I'm a perceptive person. I think I've got good insight. I think I can figure things out.
And so in the process You compromise. You see, they really failed to investigate the claims of these people. Verse 16 says, And it came to pass at the end of three days after they made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them.
Now it wouldn't have been that difficult to have found that out. If Joshua said, Well, we're gonna We're going to give this some consideration, but we're not going to decide today. We're gonna We're going to send some of our men out and let them explore the territory and see what they can learn. Wouldn't have taken much. to discover that these people were neighbors.
lived over 25 miles away. And so They failed to investigate these claims. And they failed to review the original instructions that were given to them through Moses. Back in Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse 2, it says, And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, and thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them.
So here's the message God gave to them through Moses. You don't make any covenant with them. You don't show mercy. You're to wipe them out. These are idolaters.
They are violators of the law of God. This is judgment coming upon them because of their sin. And you're not to make any adjustments in it whatever. Think about some of the failures. We sometimes make Making decisions.
without praying. Making decisions. Hastily. It may have been Joshua thought, well, this is a good way to get this matter put to rest. I've got a lot in front of me.
We've got a lot of nations to attack and to remove from the land. And if I can settle this one thing with the treaty, be done with it. And so it may be that there are times the issue comes along, you say, Well, this is the easy way out. I can solve this quickly, I'd like to get this off my plate, so you make a decision. You make a quick decision.
It turns out to be the wrong decision. Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. You say, I think I understand this. You're depending on what you see and what you've heard.
You're not depending on God or His Word. Lean not to thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Acknowledge him. If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not. Making judgments.
based only on appearance. Situation Looks good, looks appealing, but you haven't investigated it. You haven't gotten down to explore all the details and facts concerning it. You haven't prayed about it. If you haven't gone to Scripture, just as they could have gone back to the words of Moses.
They didn't do it. You try to decide something? Have you gone to God's word? Have you gone to see what God's Word says to the subject? Peter makes reference to those who speak great swelling words of vanity.
and therefore allure through the lust of the flesh. Here's somebody that's speaking great words, swelling words of vanity. They may sound good, they sound interesting, they sound convincing. But you haven't tested them by the Word of God. Ignoring the plain declarations of Scripture.
1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 33. Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. Particularly in counseling with young people, I've been over that scripture time and time again. And I've seen those who have rejected it. and have seen the sad consequences.
I tell somebody who's got a problem with drugs. If you don't quit associating with your druggy friends, you won't give up the drugs. Oh, they'll say, I think I can handle it. I can't give up my friends.
Well, here's what God says: that's not just my opinion. God says, that you associate with the wrong people, you will be corrupted by them. And then 2 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14. But be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Here's the testimony of God's Word. If you ignore that, there are consequences. I receive mail and sometimes phone calls.
from women who say Pray for me. Elder Bradley. I'm in a difficult situation. I'm married. to an unbeliever.
One lady said, I knew better. I knew what the scriptures said. I knew he wasn't a believer. But I reassured myself By saying I believe it will be. I believe he'll become a believer at a later time.
There's no loophole in that text. There's nothing there that says Well, I hope for the best. I believe in spite of it, everything will turn out all right. That's not there. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
And so there are many areas. Where if you're not consulting Many areas where if you're not consulting God's word. You can go down the wrong path. and there are serious consequences to be suffered.
Now, the third thing we observe about this text is a peaceful resolution. Chapter 9, verse 20. This we will do to them We will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swear unto them. We made it off. Three days later it's revealed These people had deceived them.
Their testimony was untrue.
So many of the people said, since they lied to us, we don't have to observe the oath. We don't have to keep it. We don't have to respect it. Joshua and the leader say we must do it because it was an oath that we made. In God's name.
It's better. Not to make a vow, then to make a vow in God's name, and then to break it.
Now, the congregation, it says, murmured against the princes. They didn't like it. May have been various reasons as to why they didn't. They may have been excited about the fact they were going into these three cities where the Gibeonites lived and they were going to take the spoil. They were disappointed.
We're going to miss out. We're not going to get everything we thought we should get. Obviously, don't know what all of their reasons are, but can speculate knowing something about human nature that that might well have been a part of it. reminds us of how The people complained against Moses and Aaron. when they were in the wilderness.
So now they're complaining This next generation complaining against Joshua and the princes. They might have said, you know. These leaders have failed us. We don't like this big mistake they've made. It's harmful.
Some may have had the attitude, well, if I'd been in charge, that never would have happened. I I I tha I think I could have handled this better than than Joshua did. And so they were full of criticism. Andy leader. Can make a mistake and will make mistakes because there are no perfect leaders.
Jesus Christ, the only perfect man that ever lived. Joshua is seeking to make the best of the situation. saying that he did err. But the people are grumbling, they're murmuring, they're complaining. And so the unity that had been enjoyed in the camp is disrupted because of their complaints.
Verse twenty-one. And the princess said unto them, Let them live, but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princess had promised them. They say, all right, we're going to bring this thing to a peaceful resolution. We're not going to kill them because we did make this agreement, we made this oath before God, and we will not kill them. But, We're going to use them as servants.
They're going to be hewers of wood and drawers of water. They needed a lot of wood and they needed a lot of water in the temple service, and that would be one of the areas where they would be able to be of use. And so Joshua made them, it says in verse twenty seven, Hewers of wood. Even unto this day, it says, made them hewers of wood and drawers of water. For the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.
When a mistake is made The best thing to do is admit it. And certainly, the leaders are admitting a mistake was made, but then to make the best of the situation. The Gibeonites continued in that capacity of being servants. Hewers of wood, drawers of water. for many, many years.
And there's indication. that at a later time, some of them became believers. and became a part. of the Israelite nation.
Now What do you do? when you realize I was deceived. Or I made a mistake. Or I didn't pray about this situation, and therefore I'm having to endure the consequences. What do you do?
You give up? They say, I quit. I made a mistake.
So there's no need to go on. Do you give in to discouragement? If others have criticized you because of your mistake, do you give up? You say, I can't take this. These leaders might well have said the people have Lost confidence in us, and they're complaining and murmuring against us.
I resign. But they didn't do that. Do you beat yourself up? You can waste a lot of time and energy beating yourself up. Once you confess that you've done wrong, and if it's a sinful action, you confess it to the Lord and seek forgiveness from Him.
That's as far as you can go. Do you waste a lot of time talking about it? They had a lot of work ahead of them. There were many other nations that needed to be driven out from this land of promise. But if they spent all their time talking about the mistake that was made with the Gibeonites, they wouldn't have time to move forward and conquer the land.
Then Joshua asked the question. Why have you beguiled us? And their response is interesting. They said, Because we had been told how the Lord your God had commanded Moses to give you all the land. and to destroy the inhabitants of the land, and we were afraid for our lives.
When we heard about what your God Has done in other places. And the commandment that he had given through his servant Moses, we were afraid. Verse 25. And now, behold, we are in thine hand, as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us. You have to say They had the right spirit at this point.
Yes, they admit it. They had done wrong. But now we're in thy hand. And this brings to mind the very attitude in which sinners. must come before God.
When an individual is convicted I'm a sinner.
Now they may have all their lifetime said, oh, I know, I make mistakes here and there, but it's a different situation when the Holy Spirit convicts an individual that they are sinful in the sight of a holy God. And you come to realize I'm in deep trouble. I'm a violator of God's law. If I receive justice, I'll suffer his wrath forever. I feel guilty.
What am I going to do about it?
Well, just as these came before Joshua. You must say I'm in God's hand. They had heard about the power of God and believe what they heard. And this is one of the evidences of a work of grace in an individual, a sinner who now comes to say, I may have heard of these things and it didn't mean that much to me, but now it's gripped my heart. I know of a truth that God is a holy God.
God is sovereign. God has the right to do with me according to his own pleasure, but I come seeking mercy. As the publican prayed, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Confess that I'm wrong, cast myself upon the mercy of God. And as mercy was shown to the Gibeonites, They were spared.
And their descendants later being in the place of service in the temple of God, were converted. Oh, is it not marvellous to see how the sovereign God works in unique ways. We would never imagine all that was taking place at one time. God makes even the wrath of man to praise him. That doesn't justify sinful action.
That doesn't excuse the people for lying. But here they are. Why about their home and where it is and their situation and their travels. And yet God intervenes by divine grace. And these people now made servants serve in the altar of God, serve in the service that was rendered in that time, and became many of them converted and therefore were blessed and favored by divine grace.
Grace is a marvelous thing, is it not? Watch and pray. Let us watch. that we be not deceived. and pray.
concerning every decision. that we make.
Well, I'm glad you've been with us for the broadcast today and hope that the message has been a blessing to you. We look forward to hearing from you and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. I'm here. Bless every hour I need. Oh, bless be thou my Savior.
I come to thee. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lessere Bradley Jr. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217. That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45217. I believe thee, oh, I need thee, pray I need O blessed be thou my Savior, I come to thee
